Spiritual observance is often an integral part of ethnic identity. The degree to which ethnicity and religion are connected varies greatly from group to group, but most groups preserve traditions that reflect or derive from a common faith. Certificates commemorating religious rites of passage, prayer cards and books, and liturgical and ceremonial objects are some of the most widespread evidence of the ethnic experience.
Immigrants and refugees to America usually preserved the original faith they practiced in the homeland. In most cases a congregation formed shortly after the immigrants' arrival, and a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple was established as soon as funds and stability of residence permitted. The religious institution provided important community support and helped preserve both the traditions responsible for a sense of group identity and the historical record of those traditions. The observance of religious holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukkah and the Buddhist New Year, also offered an opportunity to continue ethnic traditions.
Jews are among the groups that most strongly exemplify the mutuality of ethnic and religious identity. Jews have emigrated to the United States from countries as diverse as Spain and Poland, bringing with them traditions derived from these different backgrounds, but their common biblical heritage is considered by many Jews to be the essential root of their ethnic identity. The shared but diverse Jewish tradition is revealed through sacred objects.
For most Catholic immigrants too, the preservation of ethnic identity in America was closely bound to religion. New arrivals imported local and national styles of worship and church decoration along with other aspects of their ethnic culture. Often discriminated against in the predominantly Protestant United States, Catholics maintained their religious identity as a source of pride.
Groups whose spiritual traditions stood outside the Judao-Christian framework faced even greater persecution and a more difficult struggle to maintain them. In response, most enslaved African Americans developed a Christian theology and manner of worship shaped by their own cultural background and social circumstances. Not all Native Americans were torn from their family and tribal environments to the extent that Africans were. Consequently, many still maintain a large variety of distinct group traditions that differ greatly from the beliefs and practices of other American peoples.
[Spiritual Traditions: Image Archive]
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© 1996 The Balch Institute For Ethnic Studies
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